#NoBarForPyaar | Heartwarming Story of Two Women Who Fell in Love

The phone rings. A young woman rushes to answer the impatient landline. She answers and says, “We just met.”

“I know, but I wanted to say thank you,” says the voice on the other end…

“Has it only been a few months? I feel like I have known you for much longer,” the voice breathes.

Both women feel something for each other, for certain. But they’re a little shy.

Notice the lack of drama? That’s precisely what Roopa Rao, the writer and director of The Other Love Story sets out to do, and achieves in her web-series.

Aadya and Aanchal, two college girls who live on the same lane, become friends and more. “I just picked a love story and it happened to be two girls,” Roopa said in an earlier interview.

Author Rupa Roy (Photo: The News Minute)

An alumnus of the Asian Academy of Film and Television, Roopa wrote the story a decade ago. “But nothing happens before its time. Stories have life of their own and they choose people to be out in the world, this story chose me and also the time and team,” she told TNM via email.

A self-declared Yash Raj Films fan, Roopa wanted to set the story in 1990’s Bengaluru, and re-create a “simple, uncomplicated time where Bollywood romance" ruled her life.

I wanted to bring all that I missed in the film. Love letters, land line phones, random meetings in the bus stop and many other things. It is like a tribute to our teenage years

Rupa Roy, Author

Rupa also chose the era because then, there was no way for the girls to know something like this happens elsewhere. “They feel what they feel and they act on it without a choice because of the force with which love hits them. I just wanted to explore this space,” Roopa says.

When Roopa decided to take the project forward, no one was willing to produce the film. “Some producers would ask us if it was porn and how many sex scenes it had,” Roopa told Ila Anaya of The Ladies Finger. A producer who said yes backed out later because his family found out and did not approve of the subject. Finally, Roopa turned to crowd-funding.

The two lead characters of Rupa Roy’s movie (Photo: The News Minute)

Bengaluru women Spoorthi and Shweta play the characters of Aadya and Aanchal respectively. While Aadya is the younger and more vocal one, Aanchal is more reserved with who she speaks, for how long and why. For 27-year-old extrovert Shweta, relating to the character was a challenge. But more than that, Shweta and 30-year-old Spoorthi’s biggest hurdle was to step out of their heterosexual orientation to convince viewers that Aadya and Aanchal were really in love.

Initially, they tried to imagine their husbands in the other but Roopa wouldn’t have it. “Roopa wanted us to feel the love and the characters within ourselves before acting it out,” says Shweta. They also read books on the subject and watched world cinema to understand the context and treatment. And so, with theatre exercises and intensive work on the actors, the team shot continuously for about 20 days, 10-18 hours a day.

A scene from Rupa Roy’s web series. (Photo: The News Minute)

Roopa decided not film explicit scenes. “What people do in their bedroom is their business, why should it even become a discussion topic? I never understood this. I understand the political relevance but love has no rules or government. We need to let people be,” she says.

While The Other Love Story may be path-breaking in many ways, Roopa never meant to make big statements with it. “If people can watch it for what it is and have a smile on their face, that’s good enough. If the story engages them, that’s brilliant and if it does act as a trigger for some kind of transformation, then it is fantastic,” she says.

(This story was first published on 12 February 2016 and has been reposted from The Quint's archives. )

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